My Refusal Story

[malct]

Just Back from my holidays in thailand after a very up and down time.

Just to put you in the picture, I met my Thai GF in Patong last year in October working in a resturant and we met up again in January for 2 weeks staying in a hotel together and i booked the hotel in both names so it would show up on the receipt because we had talked about getting a visa for a 6 month holiday.

I returned with a really good portfolio and with all the information that was needed by me plus all the details of the holiday that i was their for which included taking my GF to the Malaysian Grand prix and onto hua hin for 5 days between applying for the visa and getting the result.

My GF put together a good package of information which showed that she had savings plus she also has a rice field.

We arrived at regent house on the Tuesday afternoon after Easter and was welcomed by a lady who told us that we were late but she would see us, We did the bankers draft and taken into a office which i thought it was strange.

The lady checked the paper work and she then asked my GF some questions and then the lady told me that if we apply now for the visa, then we would be turned down because my GF could not answer some questions.... She then offered me her time for 20.000 Baht and at this point i realised the lady was from a agency and i told her that i would take a chance.

the next day my GF arrived at Regent house at 7am and she was back for 10am and then it was the waiting game.

The week after we returned from Hua hin and my GF went for the results and then came back to the hotel upset saying that she has been refused.

I was half expecting to be turned down, so i wasn't really upset by the result, It was when i read the decision letter that upset me.

It States in the letter that my GF failed to provide substantive evidence of the relationship with the sponsor. (Do they need a movie made )

The letter goes on to say that we met in October and again in January before his latest holiday in march 2007 ( Yes they have made a Mistake with the Date !!!!!! )

they go on to say without a copy of his passport, they cant prove this.

I would like to point out that i sent them the receipts from the Hotel and also confirmation of my emirates flight which should prove that i was in thailand and patong, Plus the entry clearance officer is bound to be able to get access into passport details !!! I did send a photo copy of my passport details with my photo.

The letter then goes on to say there was no evidence to suggest that my GF reciprocated any of my phone calls, plus that the phone calls made to thailand where to my GF!!!

I use one of the many cheap phone call company's to phone my girlfriend and 1p a minute and i often phone her 3 times a day since its so cheap, So there is no reason for my GF to phone me.

On my phone bill , It only shows the phone number of the company that i use and i would be foolish to use BT in order to show her contact number.

it then goes on to say that there insufficient evidence to show that you are in subsisting relationship and hence that your a genuine visitor to the uk.

it finish's off by saying

to help put the nature of your intentions into context, it is important for you to provide evidence of your economic, professional and family circumstances in thailand. you are a single person of working age with no assets, ties or property which might encourage your presence in your country, you are unemployed and it is not clear how you support yourself in thailand. i am not satisfied that your settled in your country and that you would leave the uk at the end of the period stated by you.

My GF was working in Patong and she quit her job at the end of February so that we could have a holiday together and also with the hope that she would get a Visa.

Its very hard for Thai girls to show how they make money in restaurants, shops and bars because its all cash in hand at the end of the month.

my GF supplied photos of her parents shop, family photos, photos of her son and photos of herself working in the resturant.

she also submitted bank statements and a copy of the deeds to her rice field.

To be honest, i dont think they go though all the paperwork because we supplied a really good portfolio and was well put together.

So has my GF got more chance of going to the moon and should we give up on the chance of her coming to the UK?

Is it worth while writing the them stating then i am unhappy?

Would i we have got the visa if we had used a agency ?

how can you show how you earn money if Thai people pay cash in hand?

Does it not add to the reason for returning to thailand if she has a 14 year old son?

also with them putting the wrong date down in the letter (2007 instead of 2008) have any effect if i write to them.

thank you for reading.

Malc

[the scouser]

Unfortunately, the refusal does not carry a right of appeal, so the two options you have are to either contest the refusal in writing with the visa section in Bangkok, or to apply again. That the visa officer got the year wrong in the refusal notice does not fatally undermine it, but it is indicative of less than the anxious scrutiny each application is meant to receive.

If you decide to use an agency, I would use one which is qualified in UK immigration law; i.e. either a solicitor or someone who is registered with the OISC. The agencies in Thailand are unregistered and largely unqualified.

Scouse.

[malct]

Thank you for your reply.

when we applied for the visa, there was not one single lie in our application, So maybe it hurts to tell the truth.

We thought it would be far better to say that she was unemployed rather to say that she was taking a holiday from the resturant where she had worked for 6 month and having to prove that she really did work there and having no proof.

There is a lot of answers that i would like from my story from above if anyone can help.

Also

How soon can you re, apply

Malc

[MrPaddy]

I mean really, you guys meet girls here under dubious circumstances for a 2 week whirlwind relationship and you expect your countries to dish out visas to unknown people.

Yes the truth hurts, but try again when you have some substantial time with her under your belt and better proof.

[actiondell4]

Look on the positive side of it,now you have already applied for a visa there is now evidence of your relationship.

Keep trying,wait a while and get everything together and apply again.

If you keep applying you will eventually get it.

This time study this forum there are some helpful people on here.

I will give you one snippet of advice and that is if your GF doesnt tell you everything then they the immigration dont have to tell you and will keep refusing the visa,eg,criminal convictions etc.so shes needs to be honest with you because they CHECK everything.

The letter they sent my friend who was a refused a tourist visa also upset me as they said they dont believe he is of good character etc but then they spent a whole paragraph saying how good me his sponser was and saying that i was of "truly good character" that i had to laugh rather than get angry.

Edited April 9, 2008 by actiondell4

[the scouser]

You can re-apply straight away if you wish, but you will have to make sure that either the reasons for refusal are addressed, or that you point out in a covering letter how consideration of the first application was flawed.

Scouse.

[Mossfinn]

when we applied for the visa, there was not one single lie in our application, So maybe it hurts to tell the truth.

We thought it would be far better to say that she was unemployed rather to say that she was taking a holiday from the resturant where she had worked for 6 month and having to prove that she really did work there and having no proof.

If I am reading this right, your first quote states,

there was not one single lie in our application,

and then you follow it up with your other statement that says you thought it better to say she was unemployed, rather than taking a holiday, which would suggest a lie.

Maybe the above is one answer,

There is a lot of answers that i would like from my story from above if anyone can help.

Good Luck in the future and just to reinforce, if you use an Agent, ensure it is an OISC registered one.

Moss

[JimmyCA]

Just Back from my holidays in thailand after a very up and down time.

What the offical may be thinking:

You met the girl while on vacation last october, called her a many times, saw her another time or two staying in the same hotel all within the past 6 months.

She has no assets, you have not reported if you have any assets or not.

You want a visa for her to go to UK for 6 months.

The official may wonder why a visa would be requested in the first place after such a short relationship..... what is the plan?

I imagine it would be very unlikely to get a visa based on the above.

[rgs2001uk]

Look on the positive side of it,now you have already applied for a visa there is now evidence of your relationship.

Keep trying,wait a while and get everything together and apply again.

If you keep applying you will eventually get it.

This time study this forum there are some helpful people on here.

I will give you one snippet of advice and that is if your GF doesnt tell you everything then they the immigration dont have to tell you and will keep refusing the visa,eg,criminal convictions etc.so shes needs to be honest with you because they CHECK everything.

The letter they sent my friend who was a refused a tourist visa also upset me as they said they dont believe he is of good character etc but then they spent a whole paragraph saying how good me his sponser was and saying that i was of "truly good character" that i had to laugh rather than get angry.

one of the most sensible insights into the visa process i have seen posted in a long time.

a couple of years ago i was at a function, sat opposite me were embassay staff from two different embassies.

they were recounting tales of the various girls who come in with their boyfriends, and how these girls build up a reputation at various embassies.

the embassay staff know the girl has no intention of wanting to go to the farangs country, she is going through the motions to satisfy the boyfriend.

the paperwork will be incorrect, there will be problems with things like passports, id cards, tabian bahns etc etc.

the boyfriend then goes home and keeps sending his teerak money every month, the girl tells the boyfriend to send x thousand baht so she can go to an agency, the boyfriend sends the money, the girl off course doesnt go any where near an agency, she pockets the money.

i asked one of the guys why they didnt tell the sponsor, the answer made sense, would you want to tell some 17 stone bricklayer that the love of his life had been in 3 times already that year with 3 different guys, not to mention the various other embassies she had been to.

the staff are under no obligation to inform you, all they do is process the application.

next time you are at an embassay take a look around you, it doesnt take a rocket scientist to work out what is going on and who will be granted a visa and who wont.

if your girl is having problems, be honest with yourself, where did you meet her and what does she do for a living, in some cases the embassay staff probably know more about her than you do.

[RAZZELL]

I'm currently making my "application folder".

I just noticed a couple of thing's.

1) Was your passport attested?

2) How can you prove that your gf called you? No phone bills in Thailand and in the UK they'll be no record of incoming calls?

Did you have your bank statements, accomodation in the UK, covering letter etc etc included ?

All the best for the next one

RAZZ

[Lickey]

A very good insight by RGS2001uk, yet another angle for falangs to get fleeced, another thing, if she talks good english, its probaly because she knows a lot of other english speaking men, to be for-warned is to be forarmed,

[torrenova]

Just a thought. In the old days when you had to use BT to call Thailand you did have a record but as no-one is daft enough now to pay BT £1.50 a minute or something ridiculous and most Thai girls are on pay as you go, you have no record of telephone conversations.

Here is one way to overcome this.

You get your girl to get a post paid account. This is not as difficult as it seems because of two things. She will be on a Tabian Bahn somewhere and even easier if she has had the telephone number for quite a while (particularly if registered). You can also stump up a deposit.

I don't know about other companies or tariffs but you can go to AIS Serenade which allows you to monitor the account online and even pay online. You can have it set up for direct debit as well. I don't know if you can set limits but if you pay a deposit I reckon it would be limited in the beginning at least.

It can be more expensive but I think SMS is about Bt9 to the UK against Bt5 otherwise so even 100 SMS a month would cost only Bt400 more. The monthly fee is about Bt1000-1500 I think.

If you are giving her cash then you could reduce this and warn her not to abuse the system.

From your side, you could make some calls direct to her mobile or SMS direct. About 15p-25p I think.

If you think about doing it for say 6 months, then you can roughly work out what it would cost extra and of course, you could make the long calls via skype or calling card anyway. You can even SMS through skype for about $0.06 and keep a record or call direct for a similar fee, again with a record.

Just a couple of thoughts to overcome this problem of no proof of communication.

[technocracy]

I have to say I sadly agree with the people saying you've spent very little time with her - a total of 3 weeks there abouts and you want a visa, not really going to fly that one is it. Heck my first time in BKK I spent 3 weeks with one girl but it was never going to be a 'relationship' or would I ever of consider there of being any possibility of getting her a visa! But that said she'd probably of stood a good chance since she owned her own house, land and had money in the bank so she could of probably got the visa under her own steam.

The thing with the holiday visa is they essentially don't care about the sponsors in BF & GF situations they are more concerned about her having a reason to return to Thailand. If she has no ties, house, job, money in bank etc then she has little reason to want to leave the UK and go back to Thailand, regardless of what you sponsorship letter says.

My now wife was refused a holiday visa under very dubious circumstance - I won't go into details as I've posted them before and my feeling about the UK embassy will never chance after the treatment my wife recieved.

Oh and on the communication side they seem to believe prints of emails more than anything else these days, god knows why they are so easy to forge.

Edited April 11, 2008 by technocracy

[Theyreallrubbish]

With the big backlash against immigrants going on in the UK, which is sure to get worse with the economic downturn, I expect it to become even harder for Thais to get visas.

And to be fair to the British Embassy she's a now unemployed former restaurant waitress who maybe owns a rice paddy worth a few thousand pounds who is willing to abandon her family and life in Thailand to go to the UK after spending 3 weeks with a foreigner?

There are 1000s of Thai girls working as prostitutes all across the UK. Your tirac exactly fits the profile. Unfairly or not I'm afraid.

[track61]

"A very good insight by RGS2001uk, yet another angle for falangs to get fleeced, another thing, if she talks good english, its probaly because she knows a lot of other english speaking men, to be for-warned is to be forarmed,"

I'm not sure what it is, but I don't think I would call it insight. I have no idea, nor do I care, if the girl is legit. However comma, here's some of what I think is insight;

It is not unusual for girls that work in restaurants to speak fairly good English and never go out with men. Many work very hard to learn it (on their own) because it increases their tips, specially in places frequented by falang couples. Sure, it also increases their chances of snagging a falang guy, but I see no reason to assume this girl has done so before.

It is not unusaul for embassy staff to hold and display a "greater than thou" attitude. Most that handle these type transactions are minor typical beaureaucrats that enjoy and wield the little power they possess.

It not unusual to establish roadblocks just to see if you have the stamina to persevere, hoping all along that you will finally just give up before they have to ante up. It seems to be SOP for insurance co's, banks, government agencies, utility companies, etc., most any entity that holds a portion of peoples fate in their hands.

So, if the OP digs the girl he should just keep on keeping on, anyway he deems best.

[malct]

I have now spent 7 weeks in total over 3 holidays with my thai friend and i am still getting to know her, She is not asking for money and she isn't asking for gold either.

She does seem a honest hard working lady who is just trying to make the best out of life.

I know that they have dreams of coming to the UK to live and i am aware of that , so i am not getting sucked into the Love of my life situation.

It isn't really worrying me that she cant get the visa, but its the attitude of the Embassy and the checking of documents.

It took over a month to put all the information together and maybe 1 hour to reject it and when reading the refusal letter , you know that they have not checked everything that you sent.

I cant see things changing for the future , I will still be using a cheap phone company to phone my Friend and i would not expect her to phone me at a high cost , plus she is pay as you go, so no proof on phone calls.

i think she is planning on working in a local supermarket at 3000 baht a month, But with no house , then she has no reason to return back to thailand (she does have a new motor bike if that counts for anything)

Personly , I have given up and i dont feel like feeding the embassy £64 a time to get rejected, But least i can continue to enjoy holidays in asia and meet up with my friend.

Malc

"A very good insight by RGS2001uk, yet another angle for falangs to get fleeced, another thing, if she talks good english, its probaly because she knows a lot of other english speaking men, to be for-warned is to be forarmed,"

I'm not sure what it is, but I don't think I would call it insight. I have no idea, nor do I care, if the girl is legit. However comma, here's some of what I think is insight;

It is not unusual for girls that work in restaurants to speak fairly good English and never go out with men. Many work very hard to learn it (on their own) because it increases their tips, specially in places frequented by falang couples. Sure, it also increases their chances of snagging a falang guy, but I see no reason to assume this girl has done so before.

It is not unusaul for embassy staff to hold and display a "greater than thou" attitude. Most that handle these type transactions are minor typical beaureaucrats that enjoy and wield the little power they possess.

It not unusual to establish roadblocks just to see if you have the stamina to persevere, hoping all along that you will finally just give up before they have to ante up. It seems to be SOP for insurance co's, banks, government agencies, utility companies, etc., most any entity that holds a portion of peoples fate in their hands.

So, if the OP digs the girl he should just keep on keeping on, anyway he deems best.